The day book. (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, September 05, 1912, Image 19

Image and text provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

MMhKfpi5SS55PS252HS?;!r55SW'3-,:jr jwm fp ?'.Ralph began to initiate him intothe pleasures of life. Amongother things, he inspired him witha passion for motor cars. Astrange fancy in an old man butjve- lawyers are used to thesestrange streaks in human jiiature."They were on an automobiletour when the accident occurred.The car ran into a ditch somewhere along the boundary between two sv"Hes of the middlewest, and both men were killed.Witnesses proved that the fatherdied instantly, while Ralph Brentlived just ten minutes longer thanhis father."That was where I came 'intothe story. For the will was sodrawn that if the father died firstall the property valued at aboutsix millions went to the son ofhis heirs. As there were no heirsthis meant that some distant relatives would inherit it. If the elderson died first the will became nulland void, and the property wentto Jack, who was then1 ranchingin California. His wife had madehim a successful man in a smallway but I wanted her to get themoney with all my heart. AndJ did not want it to .go to the flockof vultures who came out of theuttermost parts of Massachusetts,greedily demanding their moiety.Yoir see, I had sought- out and.found Mrs. Jack, and her softvoice and gentle ways went rightinto my heart, and stayed there.And the' thing that most astonished me was that she did not'seem to care whether she got the' money or not."Well, the case came up fortrial. Ferdinand Quipp, the -famouslegal light, appeared for theclaimants, and the decision seemed inevitable. Witness after witness swore .than Ralph Brent hadsurvived his father by severalmjnutes. J went home feelingpretty blue the evening affer theother side had rested hi case;and yet, the harder I thought,and the more hopeless our chanceseemed, the more I determinedthat Mrsjjack Br.ent should getwhat:6ugW4;have beerf comingto hen.') ";"We. had offer6(f'tocQmpr.omisefor a quarter share, and our offer had been most " impolitelylatfghed at. The -claitnants seemed sure of their case, as didQuipp-, whp bullied Mrs. Jack unmercifully;,-dragged out her pastinto the- light, and called her a designing, -actress an.d.,a worthlessschemermujcVto the deliglit ofthe opposing; party. ."As Ifye. said, I went home andthought and thought and-thoughtand at last I don't knpwiwhy Igot out my big map ofcthe UnitedStates and pored over it. ThenI got my state map and poredover that. I had hoped to createsome effect by the point which Ihad noted namely, that the twomen had died in different states.In fact the road was the dividingline, Ralph Brent fell into onestate and the father in an adjoining one. But that didn't seem ofany particular value merelycurious."I dozed off in my chair and;suddenly the significance of thosemaps came to me in the middle oiits' - j